Elemental Switch AU
by ArtJunkyard
Summary: Once, Kai was destined to be the fire ninja. Until, that is, his sensei realised his terrible mistake. This story takes place in an alternate universe, where Kai and Nya's elements have been switched-Kai doesn't know he is the master of water at the start of the story. (Cover image is mine-do not use without permission ArtJunkyard 2018)
1. Chapter 1

**Elemental Switch AU**

Kai hated everything. He hated his stupid sensei, he hated his goody-two-shoes friends, and he hated his good-for-nothing sister. These ironically fiery thoughts in Kai's mind as he trudged through the dark forest, a scowl fixed permanently on his face. His so-called 'friends' had given up on chasing Kai a while ago, as he knew they would. Why would they bother? Kai was a wreck. He was useless. He didn't even have powers. Kai slapped another tree branch out of his way. _Nya_. Nya had done what she always did. She had taken something Kai enjoyed, and became better than him. Showed him up. Again. _Splash_. Kai glared down at the creek he had unwittingly stepped in. He felt the cold water fill his shoe. It was calming. Kai had always liked the water, though he could never tell why. His sea-green eyes met the eyes of his reflection, and his anger melted into sadness. How had he ended up like this?

 _(Flashback)_

Kai's narrowed eyes followed his sister from his spot in his bedroom. She and the other ninja were leaving the monastery for a mission. Instead of her usual attire, Nya had donned a red gi. His red gi. The gi given to him by his sensei the night he met the ninja. The gi he had worn when he rescued his precious little sister. The gi that had been forcibly taken from him when Wu realised his mistake. That one _stupid_ mistake that Kai would make sure his sensei would regret. Just when Kai had finally felt like he belonged, fate had sent everything crashing down. Kai wasn't the master of fire. He never had been. He was just another stupid teenager. Another worthless kid. Kai's fists clenched as tears welled up in his eyes. He turned away from the window. He was tired of this charade. He was tired of his friend's sympathetic looks, tired of how Nya avoided her brother's eyes, tired of his sensei's endless silent apologies. It had been two weeks since Sensei had broken the news. Two of the longest and most agonising weeks of Kai's life. He'd had enough - he wanted out. He wanted to leave this awful place, to walk away and never look back. But he couldn't. No matter how mad he was, no matter how much he pushed himself to, he just couldn't abandon his little sister. Deep down, Kai knew it wasn't really her fault. But he refused to admit it, even to himself. If only there was a middle ground. Some way he could leave, and never speak to any of ever again, but still see his sister. Maybe just watch from the shadows. Then it came to him. What if he didn't have to abandon being a fighter at all? What if he still helped people, but _better_ than the ninja? Show them up - beat them without fighting them. Granted - it was only half an idea, but it could still work. He would leave tonight.

 _(Present)_

Kai didn't know how long he had been staring at his reflection. Minutes? Hours? He couldn't be sure, he'd zoned out - replaying the entire day's events in his mind, from watching the ninja leave, to the awful argument he had had with Sensei Wu before storming out into the forest, ignoring the teacher's calls for him to come back. Kai felt his anger rise as he remembered the fight, and his entire situation. In a short-lived burst of fury, the dark haired teen kicked at the water surrounding him with all his might, squeezing his eyes shut in the effort. When they reopened, they fell upon something very peculiar. The water was flowing backwards - the direction Kai's foot had kicked it in. Shocked, Kai very quickly stumbled out of the creek. As soon as he did, the water returned to normality. A now extremely curious Kai leaned down towards to creek, slowly stretching his hand out and into the rushing currents. He gave his hand a quick flick, and the flow once again reversed. Now wearing a small smile, Kai stood and took a step back, scanning his hands in wonder. This would be _very_ useful if he were to become the ninja's competition. Of course, he would need some kind of disguise - if he were to show up to a fight and the ninja recognised him, they would force him to go back to the monastery. He would also need a cool name. He was an ex-ninja, so maybe something involving the letter 'X'? Kai wasn't sure about that part, but he did always fancy the idea of being a samurai.

 _And so Kai became Samurai X_


	2. Chapter 2:The Former Hero

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU:** **CH** **APTER** **2** **: The Former Hero**

"Ow."

Kai batted at the wasp with his free hand. "Stupid thing." Having driven it away, Kai returned to his tedious task. He hated stealing, but really, what else could he do? When he had left the monastery, he had only taken enough food to last him a week or so. But it was coming winter, so he couldn't grow his own food for anther few months. So he was reduced to watching the market stalls from a tree, where he scanned for shopkeepers who were cheating their customers out of their money. Kai would only steal from those who deserved to be stolen from. He had to be careful though. If he made a fuss, he might end up in jail, which would mean that Samurai X would mysteriously disappear. It would also make it harder to find a job if he ever needed one.

A sudden gust of wind almost knocked Kai out of his crouching position in his tree, and blasted some loose leaves onto the ground below. Then a loud, high pitched, annoying voice made Kai's heart stop.

"I won!"

"What? No you didn't. It was totally me."

"Oh hush, you two. Besides, I won - fair and square."

A chorus of bickering broke out as Kai slowly turned his head to the sources. He swallowed. Sometimes it really sucked to be right. The four colour coded ninja stood on the roof of a row of terraced houses, while their dragons scratched themselves or nuzzled their respective coloured rider for treats. Kai studied the red ninja, unable to stop himself from checking his little sister for injuries. He knew she had been in a rather tough battle last Tuesday (Kai had been there), but she didn't seem too bad. Not cause for concern. Maybe he would be able to sleep a little better now, at least until the next inevitable battle. Pulling himself out of his parental trance, he realised that the ninja's arrival would catch the people's attention, giving him the perfect opportunity to snag a loaf of bread or a couple of oranges. That is - if the ninja didn't catch him in the act. Shrugging off that terrifying thought, Kai slid off the tree and sauntered over to the stalls hoping that his ripped hoodie and filthy jeans would disguise him, but not make him look too much like a thief. Wow. There sure is a lot of risk and stress in feeding yourself.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Kai was getting the heck out of there, empty-handed or not. There was no way in Ninjago that he would stick around after that. It was his own fault - he had bitten off more than he could chew. He had just reached the fruit stall when his eyes fell upon the biggest block of cheddar cheese Kai had ever seen in the next stall over. It felt like a waterfall of drool was flowing out of his mouth. That could feed him for a week. (Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating slightly. The block wasn't that big, it was only the size of Kai's hand - maybe smaller. But Kai was starving, and hunger has an awful habit of making people see things that aren't really there.) Kai was sold. He was taking _that_ block home, whether the law allowed it or not. He glimpsed at the man behind the stall. He was _sleeping_. Leaning all the way back in his makeshift wooden chair, snoring as if he hadn't slept a wink all night. Kai smiled. This was too good. He quickly abandoned the idea of pinching a few pieces of fruit that would only feed him for a day. Glancing around at the other customers, he saw that they were all still distracted by the oh-so-amazing teenage saviours on the rooftops. Slowly, Kai reached out his hand, only looking at what he was doing from the corner of his eye. Just when he had finally managed to clasp his fingers around the golden morsel, a strong hand stopped his arm from sliding the cheese into his hoodie pocket. Kai felt like a deer in the headlights. He turned his head only enough to see a black glove resting on his upper arm.

" _The black glove of a ninja_ _"_ kai thought. He furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. He had been so close. A clear voice rang out from behind the thief.

"Hey buddy," Cole said in mock-friendly tone. "You plannin' on paying for that?" Kai scowled, but begrudgingly put the cheese back down on the stall table. However much he wanted to yell, to throw a punch, to tell this remorseless ninja that him stealing was their fault, this was a fight he couldn't risk participating in - he was already a lot closer to his former roommate than he ever wanted to be. If they saw his face or even heard his voice, Kai would run the risk of the ninja recognising him. Thankfully, he now wore a natural disguise. His face and clothes were grubby, his eyes were tired, his hair permanently fell over his features like a fraying curtain - only a speck of it's former glory. He just hoped that Zane (the most observant of the bunch) didn't pick up that he was still wearing the same clothes and trainers that he had worn the day he left. Kai decided that he didn't need Cole treating him like a toddler and asking him where his parents were, so he forcibly shrugged off the black ninja's hand and ran.

He was still running, not wanting to look back, not wanting to ever be in such hot water ever again. But Kai knew that was unrealistic - the ninja were everywhere, there was no chance he could hide from them forever. They were evenly matched for now, but the longer Kai hid, the more the ninja developed their skills. The hours kai used to build shelters and cook his own food were the same hours the ninja spent training. It wouldn't be long until he wouldn't be able to hold his own against _Jay_ , never mind the others. He could hardly bare to think about the day that would inevitably come - the day that he would be severely overpowered by the ninja. Shaking his head at the thought, Kai reached the creek in the forest that would lead him to his temporary campsite. He absentmindedly followed the river's flow, entranced in the water's currents. They seemed to dance joyfully - a loud, never-ending parade that could easily trample any small creatures that got too close the the edge. Kai smiled slightly, and leaned down, plunging his hand into the freezing waters. His shoulders relaxed as senses enhanced. He felt connected, refreshed. The water seemed to wash away the stress. He could feel the currents running many meters below his feet. He could hear droplets of water running off leaves and dripping to the forest floor. He could smell the life buzzing all around him. It was a good feeling. When he pulled his hand out of the river, the adrenaline rush immediately died down, and he suddenly remembered how tired he was. Without the rush of the river running through his veins, Kai felt awful. He was hungry, sore, and absolutely exhausted. He stretched himself out, and continued on his journey to his makeshift home.

As soon as Kai's head had hit his leaf-stack pillow, he was out like a light. It was after dark, and it was cold. _Really_ cold. The frost was settling on the tree's bare branches and the ground was rock hard. Still, Kai had no trouble getting to sleep - he had ran _a lot_ that day, and by now he was used to the below-appropriate temperature. He would have loved nothing more than a peaceful night's sleep. Unfortunately for Kai, he was on an unlucky streak, and will be for quite some time…


	3. Chapter 3: Dreams are Symbolic

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU:** **CH** **APTER 3 : Dreams are symbolic**

 **Before we begin, I want to thank everyone for their awesome reviews! I'm so glad you guys like this idea - it's one I've had for a while, but I never did anything with it until now. Slight warning - nothing much happens in this chapter, but hopefully it will make a good setup for the next chapter. By the way, I've made art for every chapter so far, and posted them on my account on Amino. If you want to see those, go on over to the 'masters of spinjitzu' amino, my account is called 'ArtJunkyard'. I think you can just look it up on google without having to get the app. Thanks again!**

… **.**

abalone

ˌabəˈləʊni/

 _noun_

noun: **abalone** ; plural noun: **abalones**

An edible mollusc of warm seas, with a shallow ear-shaped shell pierced with a line of respiratory holes.

" _To see or eat_ _ **abalone**_ _in your dream indicates a transitional period in your life. The symbol may also be a play on words to indicate feelings of loneliness."_

The dream was odd, to say the least. Probably really symbolic, yeah, but odd. It started when Kai looked up. He was in a damp, dark, cylindrical room. It was a tight fit, he could just about turn around. Above him, there was a glint of light pouring from a hole on the roof, which Kai quickly decided would be his escape route - if he felt the need to escape that is. The walls were rough, rocky and shimmered with metallic jewels the size of his hands. Kai felt a strange urge to climb. It was nagging at him, telling him to move. Since there seemed like there was no real reason to fight it - Kai obliged. He put his hand on one of the jewels, gripping it tightly as he hoisted his body weight onto it, when it popped right out of it's deceivingly sturdy position in the wall. He looked it over, flipping it around in his hands. The gem was ear-shaped, and painted a nice shade of lilac, though when the light touched it, it shimmered a pale pink colour. It wasn't a jewel. It looked like…a shell?

" _Yup. Just a useless old shell."_ He told himself. Yet something about it intrigued him, like it was trying to tell him something…something important. Kai shook off his unfounded interest. After all, it was just a shell. He threw it down, where it clattered to the stone floor, the sound reverberating off the damp cave's interior. Once again, Kai started to climb towards the speck of light, now careful to avoid the weird shells encrusted in the walls.

It must have been hours. Or minutes - Kai was never the best at keeping track of time. His fingers ached, his feet were throbbing. Nevertheless, he climbed. He wanted to look down, just to see how far he'd come. Maybe then he could push himself more, knowing that he had already come so far. But if felt like he had been ascending for forever. Surely if he took a glance downward, he would remember how high he was. He most definitely did not want to panic and slip, for he might not know exactly how far he was, but he knew for certain that landing would hurt. So Kai forced himself to reach for the next ledge, adjust his footing, pull himself up and repeat, each time acting on the false hope that maybe, _just maybe_ , _this would be his last one_ \- _splash._ Kaipulled his hand back. The fingers on his right hand were wet. Sure, the cave's walls were damp, but… _plop!_ Annoyed, he felt his hair where the water drip had landed, and looked up to glare pointlessly at wherever water source had rudely spat at him. When he saw it, he gripped the wall he was holding onto harder. Directly above him, a pool of water ripped and swirled, occasionally letting loose another drip. The thing was, _gravity_ and _common sense_ didn't really allow that. The pool was sitting above the tunnel Kai was climbing up, like a translucent roof. It was letting small amounts of light inside, though Kai could tell the water was deep. Now completely overrun with curiosity, he stuck his hand though the the liquid ceiling. It was _freezing_ , but his arm went right through without any trouble - so Kai took the next logical step. He stuck his head through. He saw that he was on top of a mountain-like mound under the sea. The water-tight cave tunnelled right through the middle of it. He looked out over the vast underwater desert - the waving trees of seaweed, the calming sky of ocean. Kai pulled himself out of the tunnel, fully submerging himself in the warm sea. Wait…warm? Just a second ago it had been freezing. Then Kai became very aware of the water rapidly heating up, the air bubbles zooming upwards from the tunnel, the ground shaking. Then realisation hit hard. _He was Stanton on an underwater volcano. A volcano that was about to erupt._ A loud rubbing filled Kai's ears as he frantically swam upwards. Making painstakingly slow progress as his limb still hurt from climbing. Suddenly a blast only equal to the detonation of a bomb rang out, and Kai violently skyrocketed, pushed upwards by the force of the eruption. He curled himself into a ball, and squeezed his eyes shut as the bubbles and heat engulfed him.

Kai woke with a start, gasping for air that had been non-existent a few seconds ago. He clasped his shaky hand to his chest and tried (fruitlessly) to calm him self down. Even from inside his makeshift tent, Kai could tell that it was well into the afternoon. The sun shone brightly through the thin leaves he had haphazardly sewn together and used as tent curtains. He listened intently to the rush of the river flowing past his campsite in an attempt to slow his heart rate. He took deep breaths and closed his eyes. Just when he was beginning to relax, there was a loud _crack_. Kai's eyes snapped open, he held his breath and his body froze. There was more shuffling coming from outside the tent, and Kai ever-so-slowly turned his head to gaze at a shadow that had moved to loom over his bed. The figure was huge, it held a large stick in it's right hand, and from what Kai could see, spikes were protruding from it's head. He wanted to get up. He wanted to run, wanted to disappear from this unknown and terrifying situation. Kai wanted a lot of things. But as the figure lent down to lift Kai's leaf curtain from the bottom, he caught a glimpse of the creature's scaly fingers wrapped around the limp barricade, he knew that things like ' _safety'_ and ' _familiar territory'_ weren't luxuries he would be given. He had to fight for the right to be safe. When he curled his hands into fists and pushed himself up into a defensive stance, he made a silent vow that he would do just that. And he would be ready for when he had to fight.


	4. Chapter 4:Transfer

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU:** **CH** **APTER 4 : Transfer**

Kai had put up a fight. He really had. But he'd been ridiculously outnumbered. The massive figure outside his tent happened to be a huge Constricti Serpentine warrior - which, understandably had given Kai a slight shock. As soon as the serpent had ripped the sheet away, it's tail went straight for Kai's throat.

 _(Flashback)_

Kai ducked, and grabbed the tail as it was shooting above him. He pulled it as hard as he could, and the Constricti lost it's balance, toppling over clumsily. Making sure to trod heavily on the snake on his way towards the woods, Kai smirked in triumph. But the thrill of victory was short-lived. Serpentine had circled Kai's temporary camp, ensnaring him in the middle of a death trap. Kai whipped his head to look at them all, mentally counting them as they slowly slithered toward him.

" _Nine. Just nine snakes to pummel into the dirt. Shouldn't be too hard, I've dealt with worse. Then again, the ninja were always there…"_ His thoughts were cut short as one of the serpentine, a Fangpyre, launched themselves at Kai, who quickly side-stepped. He then used the fangpyre's velocity against him by grabbing it by the scruff of the neck and hurling him into another serpent, who got thrown to the ground. _"Seven."_ Kai thought as he ducked under a blast of venom and jumped over a tail of a snake that had attempted to trip him up. His training instincts had fully kicked in. He kicked, jabbed and jumped, hardly thinking about his movements. In other words - he started to get cocky. It was weird - cockiness was usually Nya's area. Kai guessed that it was because of his constantly bad situation. Everything had gone wrong from the moment that stupid old man had came to his shop to snoop and insult. Now, he was finally winning! Winning a battle that was simple - Kai vs Serpentine. Good vs Bad. None of this 'wear heavy armour and don't use your powers unless you want to be forced into a life of internal misery or possibly jail' junk that he had come to loathe. He was enjoying himself! Until he lost, that is. He had been concentrating too much on the snakes in from of him, that he had completely forgotten about the snakes to his rear. The first Constricti snuck up behind Kai and wrapped his tail around Kai's middle, and began to squeeze like a python suffocating a mouse. Kai gasped for breath, the air being slowly squashed out of him. He spluttered and coughed while tears ran down his cheeks. He tried to glare at the rest of the serpentine around him, who were simply watching as he suffered. He had a feeling that his 'glare' was more of a watery squint. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity and yet only a few seconds, his vision blurred. The world turned black.

 _(Present)_

And now he was here. Standing in the same dark, cramped and damp cave that he had been standing in for what seemed like eternity. His wrists were enclosed in shackles fashioned to look like fangs. The chains attached to them were painfully short, giving Kai barely any moving space. Kind of annoying, to put it blankly. But at least he got food. Granted, it wasn't often - sometimes they 'forgot' on days that he had been particularly bothersome - and it was only enough sustenance to keep him conscious (they couldn't have him becoming too healthy and run the risk of him escaping), but it was still food. And he didn't even have to break any laws to get it. It was just…handed to him. It felt good, which concerned Kai - a lot. He got a lot of time to think in his prison-cave. His train of thought usually led him to the same questions - _"why am I here? What do the serpentine want with me?"_ Turns out, Kai will get his answer sooner than he hopes.

…

He had been trapped for about two weeks (as far as Kai knew) when something finally happened. Kai had been resting his eyes, he had eventually found a way to lie down (only _semi_ -comfortably, mind you) with the limited space his chains gave him, when he heard the loud hiss of a serpentine nearing him. Assuming it was just an inferior foot-solider here to give him his 'food' (Kai was _convinced_ it was pig slop), his eyes remained shut. He would wait until the snake exited, and then he scarf down the disgusting yet filling meal. He couldn't show any kind of weakness to these evil beings - his pride just wouldn't allow it. And so he stayed perfectly still, calm and relaxed, until a rough clawed hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him suddenly to his feet. Still dazed and half-asleep, Kai rapidly blinked and swung his head around wildly.

He found himself staring into the eyes of large, blue serpent. Judging by the snake's long tail and golden staff, he was no foot-soldier, but a hypnobrai general. He tried his hardest to rip his shoulders out of the general's vice-like grip, but to no avail. "Congratulations kid," the general hissed mockingly. "you're being transferred to the city of Ouroboros. You're gonna be part of our big show." Kai had just enough time to think " _big show?_ " before he realised he couldn't rip his eyes away from the larger being's hypnotic pupils. He felt himself unwillingly relax as the world flashed red, then faded to black.


	5. Chapter 5: Before Show Butterflies

**So, this chapter is basically a rewrite of season 1 episode 6: 'The Snake King', from Kai's view. It's only half the episode as the story was too long, but the next chapter will be a direct continuation. Of course, in this AU, the circumstances and ending will be slightly or completely different. I wanna give a special thanks to everyone who's left a lovely review on the chapters so far! Thanks for sticking with me!**

* * *

 **ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU: CHAPTER 5: BEFORE-SHOW BUTTERFLIES**

Kai woke up to the sweet sound of a melodic flute. He groaned and rubbed his eyes before sluggishly pulling himself up off the ground. Cautiously approaching the wall with bars (he seemed to be in a cell of sorts), he peered out and gasped at the sight that met him. A circular stone wall enclosed a massive fighting arena. Thousands upon thousands of serpentine from every tribe flooded the stadium seats that bordered the battleground, where a fight was already taking place. Kai squinted through the late-night darkness to see who was fighting. Judging from the golden light glinting off the five opponent's long, metal staffs, it was all five serpentine generals. They writhed in agony at the soft tune flowing from the Anacondrai general's instrument-who didn't seem distressed by the song in the slightest. I looked up at the reptilian audience, who didn't seem to be badly affected-but were squirming uncomfortably.

"I can't take it anymore!" Screamed the Hypnobrai as he threw down his staff in defeat. The Anacondrai took his screams as an opportunity to take down the rest of the already off-guard generals, which he did with ease. Throwing the four staffs at the defeated general's feet (feet? Tails? I'll let you decide), he called out to the silent spectators. "BOW TO YOUR MASTER, SERPENTINE!" They wisely obliged. Kai took a deep breath. This probably didn't mean anything good. Shaking head, he turned to walk to the back of the small room when he heard a loud _clatter_. The sound resonated off the stone walls of the arena, and was only amplified by the deathly silence of the crowd. Kai snapped his head towards the sound and rushed back to the bars to watch the scene unfold. A pair of maracas lay in the dust, beneath a row of spectator seats.

" _Lloyd?!_ " Yelled the bewildered Anacondrai. He followed the purple snake's glare and his eyes widened in shock. _What was a kid doing here?_

Kai couldn't sleep. He never could nowadays, so he wasn't surprised. For a few reasons. Firstly, he was thinking about that poor kid that had been roughly tossed into cage that was pretty similar to a cage you would keep a pet bird in. Secondly, the kid had cried all night (hindering Kai's already feeble attempts at sleep), and thirdly, had threatened the Anacondrai general (whose name was 'Pythor' apparently) that if he didn't let him go, his friends, the ninja, would come and beat him up. This made Pythor laugh, while it made Kai's blood boil. The ninja had done this to this poor kid. It was _their_ fault. As always. They'd probably done or said something stupid to make the kid run away. At least, if someone told Kai that that's what had happened, he would have wholeheartedly believed them.

And so, he watched the kid all night. He couldn't sleep anyways, and he wanted to make sure that no snake touched him. Gosh, he hadn't even made direct eye contact with Lloyd, but had somehow already made an unspoken oath to protect him. When he escaped, he would take the kid with him. He had no idea what he'd do with him, he could hardly take care of himself never mind a child that needed a lot more attention. But he wouldn't leave him. He _couldn't_. These thoughts ran through Kai's head as he lay down on the dusty floor of his cell and succumbed to much-needed rest.

…

 _*CraSH*_ Kai jerked awake at the sudden deafening noise. He looked at the pile of blue and silver lying in front of him, and then up at the serpentine foot-solider towering above him for an explanation.

"Got this from your sad little excuse for a tent," the serpent growled. "Suit up. Then you'll get some props for the big show."

"Huh? _"_ The snake only scoffed at Kai's confusion.

"You'll see." He grunted over his shoulder as he sauntered out of the cell. Kai sat up on his knees as he examined the pile, which he identified as his Samurai X suit. He was extremely curious as to what the serpentine were planning, so he donned the suit and decided he would play along, just until he found out what was going on.

As soon as Kai had secured is identity-concealing helmet, the cell doors screeched open, revealing about five (maybe more) serpentine soldiers dragging a massive heap of metal through the opening and into the cell. They dropped it a few feet from Kai. He looked at them with confusion etched onto his features, though they wouldn't have known with the helmet covering his head. Still, he must have looked blank enough, for one of them gestured lazily at their right arm.

Kai inspected his right sleeve, noticing silver button on his forearm that hadn't been there the last time he'd worn it. Overwhelmed with interest, Kai pushed the button, and the pile of metal sprang to life, pushing itself up off the ground. When the mech had straightened itself out to it's full height, a small hatch opened, revealing a seat and a panel of levers and buttons. Kai stepped back. Why was the serpentine - his _enemies_ \- give him weapons? It had to be a trick. Noticing his suspiciousness, the serpentine chuckled to themselves. "Pretty nice, huh?" one of the soldiers sneered. "You're only getting it so that you can use it to beat the ninja to dust. That's what you want, right?"

' _How would they know that?'_ Kai thought. The snake wiggled his eyebrows invitingly.

"And, you get to keep it if you win. The mech and your freedom. We'll stay out of each other's way. We don't bother you, you don't interfere. Got it?" Kai nodded, though he didn't mean it, just like he knew for a fact that these snakes wouldn't keep out of his way either. From the sound of things, they had somehow figured out his main motivation - beating the ninja. Maybe it had something to do with the hypnobrai that knocked him out earlier? He had used his hypnotising powers to do it, right? It could be possible that they could feel Kai's most powerful thoughts and emotions. Yeah, that somewhat added up. But something still didn't quite make sense.

"Why would I even need the mech? I can handle myself. I don't necessarily like the ninja but-"

"Well then today's your lucky day! 'Cause you're fightin' them in a few, like it or not." The snake grinned mockingly. "Better get ready for your big show."

* * *

 **So, yeah. Half the episode (or close enough anyways). In the next chapter, we'll have the ninja vs samurai X. Hopefully I'll get it written soon. See ya!**


	6. Chapter 6: Gold or Green

**Firstly, I read an awesome guest review that said ":I want to see fanart of kai in the blue/silver samurai X suit." (for some reason I can't see it on the website, but I got an email) Well, since I love drawing and posting my stuff online, I drew the** **blue/silver samurai X** **mech and posted it on my instagram. If you want to see that, my instagram is 'my_art_junkyard'. I plan to post more art of this story on there too.**

 **Secondly, I want to thank everyone yet again for their lovely reviews. Keep it up guys!**

* * *

 **ELEMENT SWITCH AU: CHAPTER 6: GOLD OR GREEN?**

Kai listened. He listened to his unsteady breathing. He listened to the crowd's excited cheering and whooping at the famed ninja's capture. He listened to the clang of the metal chains that had been wrapped around the arms of the blue mech he now sat inside. He listened to the deafening voice that erupted from the serpentine's purple leader.

" **You say you wanted a battle, and I give you one! I give you…ninja vs Samurai!"**

He listened to the screeching of the metal doors in front of him opening.

And the fight began. Kai rushed towards his former roommates, drawing back his mech's right arm, and swinging it sideways in a perfect arc, right were the ninja had been standing a moment before. Of course, they had dodged the predictable attack. Kai was ok with that. He had a plan (what do you mean "you're surprised" Kai obviously always has a plan _pssshh_ ). He'd worked out that he needed to keep the fight going long enough for the serpentine guards to become distracted and let their guards down. Then, he would grab the kid from his cage and get the heck outta there. As usual, it was only part of a plan, there were still a few chunks missing - such as where Kai would take the kid, and what to do if his mech shut down or blew up - it was given to him by the enemy after all.

Nevertheless, Kai forged forward in his pretend fight with the ninja, who, by the looks of it, had no clue that this mysterious Samurai wasn't fighting them for real. They dodged all of his attacks, while attempting to land some devastating blows - which were easily swatted away by Kai's massive mech hand. He wasn't really paying much attention to the ninja, he kept glancing over to where the kid and the golden weapons were placed, right next to Pythor. That is, until Zane suggested in his oddly calm voice:

"Tornado of Creation?" Welp, that got his attention. He whipped his head around to see Zane, Cole, Nya and Jay collectively nod to each other. Then they twisted their bodies into spinjitzu and combined their mini twisters into one, giant wind immediately picked up, as the funnel began to suck everything that wasn't bolted to the floor into it's centre, including Kai's mech. He dug the suit's claws into the ground, ultimately keeping him tethered, but it didn't stop loose pieces that _probably_ weren't important from being torn away. Kai squeezed his eyes shut in the effort of keeping himself and the mech from being turned into a moving part of whatever it was the ninja were building in there.

After what seemed like forever, the wind died down. Kai looked up to check if the kid was alright, and although he looked rather shaken, Kai noticed how distracted the guards were. Now was his chance. Not bothering to see what the ninja had designed, Kai bolted towards the kid's cage underneath the massive snake statue. Which turned out to be a pretty bad idea, as the ninja had made an oversized catapult that shot him square in the back, knocking him off course and sending him crashing into a wall. The serpentine spectators cheered louder at the hard blow, causing Kai to shake his head to get the ringing out of his ears as he tried to steady the mech. Just as he had gotten it back on it's feet, the ground tilted sickeningly and wooden stakes sprang up out of nowhere.

Of course, it had been the ninja's fault. They'd rushed to their weapons that happened to be next to Pythor, who'd decided that the fight wasn't ' _entertaining enough_ '. Ugh. And now they were all sliding into a seemingly bottomless pit. Double ugh. But Kai wasn't about to waste any more time on charades. Flicking his voice distorter on, he called out to the oblivious ninja who were also hanging on to the almost vertical floor for dear life.

"We have already sold it. Hold on to my exo-suit."

"Wait, we're _not_ fighting for real?" Kai rolled his eyes from inside his helmet.

"Just do it, blueberry."

After some initial huffing from Jay 'blueberry' Walker, the ninja climbed on to the suit, leaving the rest of the job to Kai, who punched the jetpack on and opened the escape hatch. Jumping out caused the suit to rocket up and off, carrying the screaming teenagers. Maybe it was Kai's imagination, but he could have sworn he heard a faint yell of "I hate that samurai!". Shaking the thought out of his head, Kai turned his head to stare down Pythor over his shoulder, who grabbed the golden weapons and backed away. Kai fully spun around and sprinted right for that _stupid_ snake that had put a child in a cage like a pet. As he ran, he realised that if he grabbed the kid, the snakes would be in possession of the most powerful weapons in the 16 realms. The ninja might be almost powerless. The thought almost made him slow down, change course. But he didn't. For right at that moment, he caught the eye of the skinny, blonde boy, and saw nothing but fear. Nothing but _himself_. Kai sped up, determination and parental protectiveness fuelling his movements. He neared the cage, pulled out a small but surprisingly lethal dagger he had concealed in his boot's sole, and drove it into both ends of the lock's shackle, the box of the lock falling uselessly against the ground. He held his arms out to the kid, who jumped into them and clutched on to Kai for dear life. Kai felt him shaking, but couldn't do much in the moment. Instead he hoped against all hope that the smaller jetpack that he had built into his suit could sustain that weight of two people.

It couldn't. Well, it could - for about 45 seconds. It was just lucky that they had gotten far enough away from snake central. At least they had a somewhat soft landing. Now Kai sat on his knees, shaking the sand out of his helmet while the kid sat a few feet away, staring at him.

"Kid, you're freaking me out." Kai smiled awkwardly, his severe lack of social skills catching up to him.

"Sorry." The kid mumbled back, his cheeks reddening as he looked down at his ruined shoes. ' _Mmmm… maybe to get proper response, I should ask him something?_ ' Kai racked his brain for something not stupid to say, and settled on:

"It's Lloyd, right?" ' _fantastic,_ ' Kai's inner monologue scoffed. ' _I'm sure he doesn't know his own name._ '

"uh…yeah." Well, a stupid question gets a stupid answer. After a couple more minutes of silence, the kid murmured "You look a lot more normal than I thought you would."

"Um…thanks, I guess." More awkward silence.

"So… why'd you save me?" Kai looked up from checking his helmet for damage.

"What do you mean? Was I supposed to just leave you there?"

"Well, no, but…" he trailed off and looked down frustratedly at the sand. Kai sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Listen, Lloyd. I know that you've probably had a rough few hours. But that doesn't mean that absolutely no-one cares about you. And, I heard you talking to Pythor about the ninja. Do you live with them?" Lloyd nodded his head. "Then I know where you're coming from."

"What do you mean? Did you live with them?" Kai shrugged, and Lloyd's eyes widened. He jumped to his feet and yelled "You're Kai! You're Nya's brother!" Kai shrugged again.

"I guess they told you about me, huh?" Kai sighed. "How's Nya?"

"She's worried sick! But you could come back with me! Imagine how happy they'd be and how much more they'd like me! It'll be so great!" Kai's face turned solemn.

"I like you a lot, kid. But you won't say a thing to anyone about me, alright? Not a word."

"But-"

"Not. A. Word." Now it was Lloyd's turn to sigh.

"Okay." Kai ruffled the kid's hair.

"Alright kid, let's get you back to the ninja." He looked around for any signs of where the mech had landed, when he locked eyes with someone he knew very well.

"Kai!"

* * *

 **Wooo! Another chapter. Who else now knows Kai's identity? Cliffhangers are a gift and a curse, people. Also, I know I haven't really mentioned Kai's water powers in a while, but don't you worry, I haven't forgotten! Remember to review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Water's Blue, Right?

**Sorry for the late update! I have more work than hours of sleep right now. Anyways, onto the story!**

* * *

 **ELEMENT SWITCH AU: CHAPTER 7: Water's blue, right?**

 _"Alright kid, let's get you back to the ninja." He looked around for any signs of where the mech had landed, when he locked eyes with someone he knew very well._

 _"Kai!"_

 _~last chapter_

To say that Kai 'froze' wouldn't be quite expressive enough. Try 'stopped breathing' or 'willed the ground to swallow him'. His throat closed over and his eyes widened, they were unable to rip themselves away from the ninja's disbelieved gaze. Lloyd's eyes bounced between the two, nervously wondering who was going to speak first. When neither one did, he decided to speed things up himself. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem... Nya, I found your brother!" he threw his arms up in a 'jazz hands' position, presenting Kai like a prize on a game show, while flashing an awkward smile. His sad attempt to lighten the dense atmosphere was not surprisingly unappreciated, as neither of the siblings found this particularly funny. Lloyd guessed by the by the way Kai was glaring at him from the corner of his eye that he was close to strangling him, although the teen's unresponsive body was still glued to the spot. Lloyd gave a nervous chuckle, and hid his hands behind his back, blushing slightly.

Kai's eyes snapped back over to Nya, who had donned a relieved smile and had started to walk towards him, slowly at first, but soon breaking into a run. Kai just didn't know what to do, what to think. He wanted to run, but his legs didn't move. He wanted to put his helmet on and start up his jetpack, but his hands didn't respond. He just couldn't understand _why_. He wanted to stay away from Nya, didn't he? _...didn't he?_

Just when Kai thought he'd made up his mind (to force himself to flee), Nya's strong body slammed into his. Kai took a few steps back to steady himself. Nya wrapped her arms around her lost brother, enveloping him in her tightest hug to date, and burying her face in his chest.

"I missed you!" Nya sniffed, her emotions getting the better of her, a tear making it's way down her cheek. "We looked everywhere! We woke up to you and sensei fighting and _-sniff-_ I went to see what was wrong but you were already gone and _-sniff-_ we've been worried sick! I thought I'd never see you again!"

Kai stared straight ahead, still trying to process everything. He was lost for words. As much as he had started to miss platonic human contact, he continued to stand perfectly still, his shoulders tense, his breath caught in his throat, and his arms pinned to his sides, trapped in his sister's tight embrace. He peered down at Nya's weeping, shaking form.

A part of him, the 'big brother' part perhaps, felt terrible that he was the one responsible for her tears. He was the one that left her, not the other way around. The other part however, the hot-headed, self-centred part, told Kai to shove Nya away.

"It was _her_ fault," It hissed at him. "She took everything from you. She _deserves_ this." But Kai's inner 'big brother' wouldn't have it. It was never her fault. She probably resented herself for being the fire ninja, probably felt responsible for Kai running away.

Slowly, cautiously, Kai pried his arms from Nya's grip. She peered up, wondering if he was going to push her off. But after a few seconds of hesitation, Kai did what he thought he would never allow himself to do again. He hugged her back.

But such a pure moment can only last so long. When Nya finally released Kai from her death-grip hug, she smiled and wiped her eyes with her wrists, sniffing occasionally. Meanwhile, Lloyd had gotten bored, and was sat down cross-legged, making swirly patterns in the sand with his finger. He only looked up when Nya exclaimed "Oh, Lloyd! Are you okay?" He simply nodded, not wanting to make her worry about him. "This is perfect!" She continued excitedly. "Sensei will be so pleased when he sees you both come home!"

Lloyd tensed and quickly looked down, remembering Kai's stern words to him about no-one finding out his identity. Kai's face darkened.

"I'm not going back, Nya." He stated simply, trying to leave no room for arguing. Nya, of course, argued anyway.

"What? But you _have_ to come back! We're worried about you!"

"I don't _have_ to do anything. Why would I go back? To stand awkwardly in the corner? You don't need me! And I certainly don't need them babying me or stopping me from ever leaving the monastery like a six-year-old!"

"The monastery isn't even in one piece anymore! It was burnt to a crisp by the Serpentine! Something _you_ could have helped prevent!"

Kai stayed silent after that particular blow, taken aback that the monastery was actually gone.

"And where are the golden weapons, huh?" Nya continued, her fists starting to smoke as her rage built up. She couldn't _believe_ her brother could be this selfish. "Oh, that's right! You _lost_ them! Now our enemies have access to the world's most powerful weaponry, and what do we have?"

The sound of a small gasp cut the heated argument short. A horrified Nya turned her head slowly towards Lloyd, who had tears beginning to streak down his cheeks. He sniffed, wiped his tears furiously with his baggy sleeve, and glared at her before getting up and storming off.

She was about to run after him saying "Lloyd wait! I'm s-" but she was cut off by Kai holding her back by the arm.

"I'll go get him." He glowered lowly. "Then you two and the ninja will take my mech back to wherever you live, and I'll call it back when you're done. You won't tell anyone who I am, and Samurai X just might help the ninja again. Got it?"

Not waiting for an answer, Kai started after Lloyd, but it was Nya's turn to hold him back. She didn't meet his eyes.

"If you don't help us retrieve the golden weapons, I'll tell." She said quietly. She stared at his boots, avoiding eye contact. "They'll believe me, because it makes sense. Samurai's fighting techniques, his sarcasm, everything fits so perfectly, I'm surprised we didn't figure it out sooner." She looked up to just below his chin. That's as close to his eyes as she dared. "Plus, Lloyd knows too. You might have to watch him personally to stop him blabbing."

Kai didn't like they way she said 'watch him personally'. From what he had seen (which, granted, wasn't a lot) Lloyd was a good kid. He was just sensitive. Kai had a feeling that he wouldn't tell. On the other hand, Nya was right. If she revealed him to the others, they would believe her. Maybe someday he would willingly return as Kai, but not just yet. He wasn't willing. But from the looks of it, he didn't have much of a choice. He groaned.

"Fine. But I come in my suit. I won't sleep, eat or wash there, as that requires me to take off my helmet. I'll stay until we get the weapons, then I leave. Deal?" He held out his hand.

Nya sighed. It wasn't ideal, but at least she would be able to keep an eye on her brother from afar. Maybe she could get a tracker on him…

"Deal." She confirmed, reaching out to shake his hand. "Now go find Lloyd."

…

It had taken some convincing, but Kai had finally gotten Lloyd to come with him to the 'bounty' where apparently the ninja now lived. Now everyone was stood in a semi-circle in the bridge of the bounty, talking over options for their next move against the serpentine without their precious golden weapons. Kai wasn't really listening though. He was watching, observing his once best friends up close for the first time in a while. It seemed like they had matured.

Sensei stood in front of them, brainstorming and taking suggestions for what to do next, while occasionally stroking his beard, deep in thought. Cole was trying his best to be helpful, spitting out ideas by the dozen, most of which were immediately shot down by Zane's logic.

Jay wasn't even on the same planet as the rest of us. Kai could tell by the way his eyes stared right though Sensei, and how his mouth sometimes quirked up in a mischievous smirk, almost as if he was remembering something really funny. Every few minutes, when Kai did have something to contribute, he could feel Jay's eyes on the side of my head, the cogs in his brain turning as he tried to figure out who was behind the helmet. He had no chance - not when he was only judging by the voice, which was heavily concealed in voice modifiers.

Nya wasn't much better. Kai could feel her attention on him and him alone, she was oblivious to Jay's obvious attempts to impress her with flattery of how well she fought against 'that blasted Samurai'. Her brows furrowed every time Kai shifted or fidgeted, like she was scared he was going to take off and run away again. He couldn't blame her. He had shown no signs of wanting to come, even though he had missed her dearly.

Wu must have noticed the lack of concentration in the room, for he sighed heavily before announcing "It's late. We should all get some rest." He turned to Kai. "Nya as informed me that you do not wish to stay with us, correct?"

"No." Kai replied bluntly. The less conversation between him and his former teacher the better.

"I assume you have somewhere else to stay?"

Kai hesitated. "Yes." Technically, it wasn't a total lie. He could stay wherever he wanted. The forests and streets of Ninjago were his home. Granted, the forests and streets of Ninjago didn't have comfy beds, or heating, or very good WiFi. Kai would've loved to sleep in an actual bed. But he couldn't sleep with his helmet on, and that meant that he ran the risk of everyone finding out who he was.

At this point, Kai hardly knew why he was keeping it a secret, but it felt right. Maybe he didn't want the pity. Maybe he wanted them to know what it felt like to be lied to. Maybe he didn't want to reveal himself for fear of the others seeing him, and only being disappointed that the great Samurai X was a nobody. "I just need to do something first."

Kai found Lloyd sitting at the bow of the airborne ship, his face buried in his knees and his arms wrapped around his head. He was shaking slightly. He was crying. Kai lowered himself down beside him, and looked out on the view of a beautiful red sunset that bled into the blue sky. They sat there in silence for a while, until Lloyd peered up, his red eyes peeking at Kai from in between his arms. Kai glanced down at him and gave him a reassuring smile, only to remember that he couldn't see it under his helmet. Instead, he voted not to prod, and looked back up at the sky's personal light show. He wanted Lloyd to speak first.

And he did. "Kai," he whimpered, "did Nya mean what she said? That I'm useless?" Kai tensed at the use of his name while in uniform, but tried to ignore it to properly answer the kid's question.

"No. I rubbed Nya up the wrong way, that was my fault. We both do pretty stupid things when we're angry. Must be genetic." Lloyd turned his tear-stained face towards me.

"Like running away?" Kai said nothing. "Kai?" He cringed again at the mention of his name.

"Okay kid, if we're gonna talk a lot, you're gonna have to keep using my real name to a minimum. Maybe we could think of a nickname together or something." While he said this mostly to get away from the subject and to get the kid's mind off Nya's words, something about having a nickname had always seemed cool to him. So...bonus.

"Hmm...well, what can you do? Can you shoot lasers? Then I could call you something cool like…like Laser-beam!" Lloyd exclaimed. Kai chuckled.

"I can do this." He held out his index finger underneath Lloyd's chin, where a teardrop was hanging. As he brought his finger up, the droplet moved upwards and off Lloyd's face, where Kai willed it to fly around Lloyd's head like a water butterfly. He laughed as the kid let out giggles, attempting to catch the drop. When he finally caught it, Kai released his mental hold on it, and the droplet splashed in Lloyd's hand.

He leaned back on his hands, absorbing the kid's praise and awe. They spent the next 20 minutes or so bouncing nicknames off each other, each suggestion getting increasingly more ridiculous. Finally, Lloyd settled on something simple: 'Blue'. Because "Water's blue, right?" Kai bit back the urge to tell him that water is clear, but just for the kid's amusement…

"Yeah, buddy. Water's blue."

* * *

 **Another chapter done! So, now Kai is back with the ninja, but they don't know it's him yet… also, this is the change his dream predicted - that his days of completely avoiding the ninja are over. He might have been in hiding for months, maybe a year, as he disappeared just after the pilots and the second chapter takes place in episode 1 (remember the ninja having a race to Jamanakai village? That's where Kai was stealing the food!) And I finally mentioned Kai's water powers again! yay! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I've been writing it for a few days now. This one and the first one are probably my favourites. Remember to review!**


	8. Chapter 8: All Downhill From Here?

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 8: All Downhill From Here?**

 **Lloyd's P.O.V.**

The reunion between brother and sister had _really_ not gone how Lloyd thought it would have. And he wasn't thinking about their _actual_ reunion, in the sea of sand. Lloyd wasn't going to think about that day ever again, not if he had any say in it. No, he was thinking about the two living together again. It had been a week or so since Samurai X had moved in. He would have thought that the once close siblings would talk, or share eye rolls (even if Kai had his helmet covering his face, it was easy to tell when he was annoyed - he was like Nya in that sense), or even acknowledge each other's existence. But they did no such thing. And when they did want to communicate, Lloyd would unwillingly act as their messenger.

"He's just stubborn, that's his problem." Nya grunted from underneath a vehicle she had been working on. She had gotten over her initial shock, and now sported her signature scowl whenever she was in the same room as the Samurai. "If he asks for help, it'll be his downfall. Where did you say he was sleeping again?"

Lloyd shrugged nonchalantly. "He told me that he found a cool cave. He said we could explore it together if I didn't tell anyone about him." Nya pulled herself out from underneath her complicated contraption and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You do realise he's just bribing you, right?"

Lloyd shrugged again, this time with a slight smirk on his lips. "Yeah, and it's working. If there's a spooky cave in it for me, why should I disobey?" Rolling her eyes, Nya scooted back under her machine.

"Well, you just tell him that I can build him a proper tent if he asks nicely." Lloyd knew as well as Nya that that would be a very unlikely occurrence.

…

"Ha! Fat chance," Kai scoffed. "The day I say 'pretty please' to Nya is the day I'm six foot underground." He had also gotten over his shock, and seemingly decided to annoy his sister as much as possible with the 'silent treatment'. Lloyd and Kai were perched in their usual place at the bow of the Bounty. It was about midday, and the ninja were training on the lower deck, the sounds of their fighting filled the air.

"K-" Lloyd hurriedly stopped himself from using his friend's real name out loud. "Blue, don't you think a tent would be warmer?"

"I don't need her stupid tent, Lloyd." Kai muttered. "And you can tell 'Miss Goody-Two-Shoes' that I don't need her pity either. I don't need anything from her. I'm leaving the first chance I get." Lloyd rolled his eyes. Kai was a bad liar when he was upset. He could tell that Kai would still die for Nya - but he wanted to prove that he wasn't going to crack first.

And so the weeks went on. The routine would be the same. The Samurai would meet up with the ninja after they'd had their breakfast (about 6:30am), and they would continue their search for the golden weapons. When they came back, someone would cook lunch, and Samurai X would take a portion to eat outside, where he was sure the others weren't watching. Then he would train until the ninja were finished washing up. Samurai would talk to Lloyd while the ninja trained. When dinner rolled around, Samurai would once again take a portion and disappear to who-knows-where to scarf it down. Sometimes he would come back to talk to Lloyd again, and sometimes he didn't come back until morning.

But one morning, he didn't come back. No-one was too concerned at first, it was well known that Samurai didn't like to be too predictable. He was as spontaneous as a stream - or in other words - not very punctual. No-one was worried at 7am. Or 8am… but by the time 9:45am had arrived, everyone was understandably slightly anxious. When 10:30am and 11am passed by, they were reasonably panicked. At 12:15pm, they decided to take action.

"The brat's abandoned us!" Jay screamed. "I knew he would! He's probably away to fight the whole serpentine race by himself! What a no-good, lousy-"

"Jay, please calm yourself," Zane's serene voice cut through Jay's toddler tantrum. "He has done nothing but help us. If he is in trouble, we should do the same for him."

"Yeah, you're just mad he called you a blueberry!" jeered Cole.

"Am _not_!"

"Are too!"

"Guys! What if he's hurt? What if he got captured?"

"Chill Lloyd." Nya said cooly. She was studying a little cellphone-like device in her hands, her face tense in concentration. She didn't look up as she reassured the others. "I know where he is. Or rather, I _will_ know where he is." Her face lit up slightly when the little device in her hand made a sudden whirring sound, and then started beeping steadily. She held it up and showed it off proudly.

" _When did you get a tracker on him?_ " Jay gawked.

"Dunno. Just did."

" _Oooo_ , cryptic. You're getting worse than Wu. Are you keeping secrets like him too?" Cole teased. Jay laughed and joined in on the good-natured pestering.

"Is there something you haven't told us young lady?" He said in a mock Wu voice. Nya went bright red and glared daggers at the two, who wisely backed down with their hands up in surrender.

…

They followed the tracker's beeping for a few minutes. They flew close to the ground on their dragons in an uncomfortable silence. Lloyd had convinced them to let him come too, so he was sitting on Flame behind Nya, his worry for his new friend clearly painted on his face. But when he looked up at Nya, he only saw _slight_ concern. It made him feel more than a little sick.

Suddenly, the reflective light of a winding river down below caught his eye. "That's it! That's the cave he's sleeping in!" Lloyd yelled over the whipping wind and the furiously beeping tracker, pointing down to a small clearing in the middle of a dense forest. Zane looked confusedly over at him.

"How do you know where he's sleeping?"

"You see, unlike the lot of you, Blue _talks_ to me." Jay rolled his eyes and muttered something incomprehensible, but nonetheless, the ninja halted their dragons, and Lloyd leaned dangerously over the side of Flame's back. Peering down, he recognised from when he had asked Kai to describe it for him. The cave was a patch of grey stone at the base of a large, rocky hill at the edge of the clearing. A wide but slow river wound it's way in tight turns in front of the cave entrance, splitting the small clearing in half.

After a quick affirming nod to each other, Nya and the guys urged their dragons into a dive, making Lloyd's eyes widen from the sudden burst of speed (he _wasn't_ scared). When they reached the ground, Lloyd was the first to dash full speed into the cave. "Blue? Blue! _Blue!_ " He momentarily clasped his hands over his ears at the loud echo his calling had made. His yells ricocheted off the walls, getting quieter and quieter as they travelled further and further through the cave.

By this time, the ninja had ran in behind Lloyd, their weapons drawn. Cole, as the leader of the group, cautiously stepped just ahead of Lloyd. There was silence. Nothing but the dripping of water droplets on the damp ceiling landing almost soundlessly on the cave's floor. Lloyd brought his baggy sleeve up to his mouth and began chewing nervously on the tasteless fabric. The group slowly advanced through the dark cave. They didn't really need to be quiet, as Lloyd's yells would have alerted any attacker, but the dark cave gave the impression that it didn't want to be disturbed.

Suddenly, there was a small noise. It was almost too hushed to hear. Everyone's ears perked up. Cole, who was still at the front of the group, placed a finger over his lips, a signal to the others to not make a sound. There was another noise, slightly louder this time. A groan.

Lloyd's spirits heightened immediately. "It's the Samurai! It has to be!" he excitedly exclaimed to the ninja before darting around Cole and sprinting further into the cavern, ignoring their whispered protests. He rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt right in front of... " _Blue?_ " he whispered. 'Blue' only groaned in response. He was lying curled up on the floor in front of the remains of a puny fire, clutching his stomach. He was deathly pale, his eyes clamped shut and he was shaking slightly. His helmet lay motionless a few feet away from his face.

Before Lloyd could take this in completely, Nya came barrelling around the corner, the others in hot pursuit. She ran straight to his side and felt his forehead, but immediately pulled her hand back.

"He's burning up. We need to get him home, _now_." No-one moved. Lloyd was especially frozen, his fear for his friend welling up and threatening to escape via tears. Jay and Cole were rooted to the spot, their mouths ajar. Though Zane was also shocked, he recovered quickly - his friend was in need of his help. He moved swiftly and silently towards the semi-unconscious Samurai. Kai whimpered and shifted as Zane slid his hands underneath him back and legs, picking him up carefully, as though he was handling a fragile doll.

"Nya's right." he said calmly. "Let's get him home."

 **Oof - now the ninja all know Kai's little secret. Stay tuned for the next chapter! Don't forget to review!**


	9. Chapter 9:Light And Dark

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 9: Light and Dark**

 **Sorry for the long wait! I think I'm gonna start answering a few (not all) reviews at the start of each chapter. Here goes!**

 **RandomDragon2.0 - it is a pretty rough way for Kai's cover to be blown, huh? I had o be as mean as possible :)**

 **KrazyKittyKat3 - ooo I love the poem! I hope you'll like when I finally do unveil what happened to Kai (his sickness is no coincidence, that's all I'll say)**

 **SweetHeart114 - you are definitely deserving over your username! I really wasn't sure about the first few chapters, but I'm glad you enjoyed them!**

* * *

The last thing Kai remembered was darkness. The first time he woke up, Kai was hit with light. Blinding, painful light. In fact, that's all he felt - pain. It bursted from his head and erupted from his stomach. He clenched his burning eyes shut and tried to move, to somehow distract himself from the pain. His attempts to sit up were in vain, as something or someone kept pushing him back down onto the soft…whatever it was he was lying on.

" _Wait…didn't I fall asleep in a cave?"_

"Hey buddy… _"_ The new voice sounded distant, as though Kai was underwater. "…try not…move, ok? Get…rest." The voice was calming, but drifted in and out of earshot. His brain was to fried to piece together the soft-spoken words, much less pay attention to what they were trying to tell him. He attempted, once again, to sit up. Just then, Kai felt a weight on both of his shoulders, pinning him gently to the comfortable surface beneath him. He debated whether or not to fight back, but his brain was too melted to try anything.

When he had all but given in to the precious idea of _warm_ , _snug_ sleep, everything came whizzing back to hit him - worse than the stabbing agony enclosing every part of Kai's body. The realisation that he was no longer in that cave, or even _alone_ , and possibly in _grave danger_ shook him to the core, and he fought against the force keeping him down with renewed vigour. Granted, the 'vigour' was probably more of a pathetic wiggle, but Kai meant every fiery thought behind it.

However, the weight holding him down increased, and Kai panicked, not being able to properly see his opponent through his tired and hazy vision. Then the voice came back. It was clearer now. "Listen bud, you're ok. Calm down." It was so familiar…yet so strange. It was like a sweet sound he hadn't heard in a long time. Maybe he could trust it. After all, his eyelids were heavy, and even though he wanted to resist, the warmth of the sheets he was wrapped in were just too comfortable. Kai gradually let his eyelids droop, and the darkness of sleep overcame him.

…

The second time he woke, it was dark. While the pain _had_ subsided, Kai felt weaker than ever. He barely had the energy to turn his head. But of course, he forced himself to turn anyways, because what was he supposed to do? Wait for some low-life serpentine to come and drag him back into his old cell in Orobourus? Nope, he was going to figure out where he was, and get the heck outta there.

But when he looked around, he was not met with cold-blooded serpentine, as he'd expected. Instead, he was met with a snoring Cole, who was sitting slumped in a wooden chair that was pulled up beside Kai's bed.

" _He must have been watching me sleep,_ " he thought. " _He was probably the person who was talking to me too._ " Suddenly the immense strength that had held him down made perfect sense, as Cole had always been the strongest. Kai began to piece things together to remember all that had happened.

So… he was back on the Bounty. He glanced down at his clothes, seeing that he was in his old, red striped pyjama bottoms, but he was bare-chested. " _Thank goodness,_ " Kai thought. " _It's boiling in here._ " His armour was nowhere in sight, so it was safe to assume the ninja knew his identity too. Kai sighed, then turned to peer out the window of what he assumed was the Bounty's infirmary, and trained his eyes on the dazzling full moon. It was casting it's brilliant rays throughout the small room, making the dust dance in the air. It was peaceful.

But right at that moment, Kai didn't want tranquility (though he throughly needed it), he wanted…well, he wasn't sure what he wanted. Alone time? No, he was always alone, and it hadn't fixed anything yet. Did he want company? Maybe. Kai was almost positive that the time he'd spent with Lloyd was some of the best hours of his life. The kid had so much to say, so many emotions and so much innocence. He related with Kai. They'd both had a hard streak recently, and neither of them really wanted to be here with the ninja, but they'd both decided to stick around, for each other. Well, that's what Kai had intended. Then Lloyd had snitched. The ninja had come to get him, probably to convince him to come home, when they had found him sick. He tried to convince himself that it could've been Nya, probably to take the blame off his young friend, but no, it couldn't have been her. Nya knew of his identity, but didn't know where he was sleeping. He'd only told Lloyd. Now that the kid had betrayed him, there wasn't really many other options in terms of company.

Kai closed his eyes and (with great effort), pushed his body up into a sitting position, where he proceeded to pull his knees to his chest, and hugged them tight. This position had become a habit in his weeks of sleeping under trees and in alleyways - it seemed to satisfy his nagging want for warmth and contact. To some extent, anyway. Kai took a few deep breaths, making an effort to come to terms with his situation and planning his next move. Would he stay? Would he run? Would he even be able to run? Would the ninja block his every escape, trapping him like a caged animal?

A loud creak of a door interrupted Kai's train of thought. Kai kept his eyes screwed shut. He was trying to think. He pretended he couldn't hear it. But he did. He heard the gentle click of the door shutting, heard the soft padding of feet making their way towards the bed, heard a hushed conversation and heard Cole stand up and leave. The bed sank. He heard a deep sigh. Then they spoke, "We need to talk."

* * *

Wu could not express his utter horror upon seeing his lost student arrive home in Zane's arms. At first, he didn't even recognise the teen he had grown to love. He was so…pale, so fragile. The words tasted off in his mouth. They were not common words used to describe Kai. His hair was unkempt and dishevelled, his eyes sat above dark circles. He was certain the ragged hoodie and torn jeans were the very same ones as the night he had left. Nya held the battered blue armour in her arms. As Zane and the others hurried past him, Wu caught Nya's eye, his mind looking for an explanation.

"We had to take off his armour so he didn't get too hot." She said quickly, glancing past Wu's shoulder and over to the door that the boys had just disappeared into.

"Do you know what's wrong with him?" Wu asked. Nya shrugged.

"Can't be all that serious, whatever it is."

"Zane looked too worried for the sickness to be mild." Wu commented. Nya avoided his eye.

"Yeah, well…" she thought for a moment. "Kai's tough. Should be fine." Wu mentally scanned her. She was acting…off. She didn't look worried, but more on the skittish, nervous side. As if she was hiding something. Wu quickly shook the thought off. This was the first time seeing her brother in a few months, and he looked awful. She probably didn't know what to think. He stepped aside and watched her rush indoors after the others.

It was almost midnight. Kai had not fully woken up yet, save the thirty seconds he started out of nowhere before Cole managed to calm him down. After that little incident, Cole had decided to stay and watch him overnight incase of another episode. Wu didn't disagree with him. However, recent events and frequenting dreams had caused him to stay awake for hours, and so he decided to check on Kai.

As he wandered down the halls of the ship, he peeked through the doors of Nya's bedroom and then the boy's bedroom. Everyone seemed quiet enough, though he was too tired to deduce whether of not they had simply faked sleep when they heard him coming. Nevertheless, he continued through the wooden corridors, finally stopping at the closed door of the infirmary. A loud creak sounded from the door like a horn. Wu flinched as he tried his best not to make anymore noise for fear of waking someone. But as he stuck his head through the door, he saw that Kai was already awake.

The teen's head was buried in his knees, his shoulders and limbs tense. He seemed unaware of Wu's presence, not moving when Wu closed the door behind him, and sat down on the small bed. He looked Kai over. He just looked…awful. Old and new scars ran across what Wu could see of his chest and back. Some of the cuts looked newly wrapped. His hair had been washed, but hung floppy and long, almost to his shoulders. He was worryingly thin. Wu heaved a sigh and looked sadly at the teen.

"We need to talk."

* * *

 **Again, I'm sooo sorry for the long wait! I have more work than oxygen right now, and could never seem to find the time or motivation to write anything. Thing chapter has been sitting unfinished for quite a while. Can't guarantee anything, but ill try to get the next one out quicker! Don't forget to review! Byeee**


	10. Chapter 10: Talk To Nobody

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 10: Talk to Nobody**

 **Another long wait, oof. Sorry guys, but don't worry, don't plan on quitting this story just yet! I wanna thank all of you for your great advice and encouragement! Keep it up!**

" _We need to talk"_

The words reverberated in Kai's head like a hit gong. He debated whether or not to give a grunt of response, or simply to glare at his former teacher through his arms. He settled for the latter. His Sensei gazed guiltily back at him, whatever he had planned to say appeared to be caught in his throat, and his light coloured eyes seemed to bore straight into Kai's dark sea green ones. Eventually, it became too much. Kai's glare broke, and he looked down towards the bedsheets instead. Wu sighed again. Kai guessed he knew him well enough to realise that he would not be talking first, especially if he was holding a grudge.

"Kai…" Wu began, "where have you been?" Kai shrugged, the movement letting more moonlight illuminate the many cuts and bruises he had attained.

"Everywhere. Nowhere." Came the muffled response.

"The others informed me that you were sleeping in a cave?"

"Yeah. Nowhere." Kai thought that pretty much summed it up. But Wu seemed to think otherwise.

"How long do you think you were away?" At this point, Kai was starting to show he was at his limit with questions, his tone sharper and more forceful, yet still not above a growl. As hard as it was, he managed to force himself to lift his head and look Wu directly in the eye.

"Not long enough."

His intent was to make the old man back off, to tell him that he was still angry and that they should've just _left him alone_ , but Wu portrayed no sign that he had understood the undertone. Instead, he fixed Kai with a searching gaze, his pitying expression remaining unchanged. Kai suddenly became painfully aware of his curled-in posture, no doubt making him look _weak_ \- but then he noticed how his shoulders were shaking, possibly from the strain of keeping himself upright in a barely awake body. He just hoped it didn't look - oh. _Oh_. _That's_ what he thought. Wu thought he was _frightened_.

Kai scrambled out of his curled-up position and tried to square his shoulders, attempting to make himself seem bigger and more confident than he felt. He told himself that he was _not_ intimidated in slightest. Though it was hard to look tough when he had clearly lost weight. His bones were just showing through his skin, making him seem even more venerable. Wu nodded slightly, seeming to finally understand Kai's 'leave me alone' message. He stood quietly, and made his way over to the door. When his hand rested on the doorknob, he turned to face his former student and spoke one soft, yet commanding word. "Sleep."

…

Kai wasn't sure how long it had been since he woke on the bounty. It seemed like weeks, though it was probably just a few days. Time blurs together when one is stuck in a bed, constantly being berated by people you don't want to talk to, or stared at when no-one thinks you're looking. Throughout the painfully long hours, Kai remained silent. He no longer protested against their help as he had done in the first few days on the ship, now he simply obeyed their orders of 'lie down' or 'show me that cut' without question, but not without glaring at no-one - or everyone. He could tell that this made them feel worse - like he was admitting defeat.

But he had a plan. If he could convince them that he would not leave, maybe they would let their guard down just enough for Kai to slip free. But for now, he was stuck. They were constantly peeking through the door, checking up on him every few minutes, which wouldn't even leave Kai enough time to get a mile from the boat. The ninja had the odds stacked their favour. They were flying half the time, so Kai had no way down, they had taken away his armour and his mech was still in that cave, which could be halfway around the world at this point, and he was still weak with sickness. Zane had concluded that he had some kind of food poisoning, which wouldn't last too much longer, so at least that was good news. He still found it suspicious that no-one else had food poisoning, as they were eating the same food, but Zane assured him that it must have been something he ate before he helped them. Kai was still unsure, but managed to keep his mouth shut.

His sickness had already lasted longer than a usual case of food poisoning, which supposedly went away after about five days. The others had themselves utterly convinced that it was only because he wasn't healthy when he caught it. After about two weeks, Kai was feeling a lot better, though he was still confined to bed. He knew his days of freedom were creeping ever closer, and he could hardly contain the smirk spread onto his lips every time he went over his escape plan. " _This time,_ " Kai thought, " _this time I'll prepare. I'll think of every possible outcome. I'll be ready._ "

He was just running through the plan again in his head when he heard the door creak open. He was already laying facing away from the entrance, so faking sleep wasn't hard. Closing his eyes, he breathed deeply through his nose to give the impression that he was lightly snoring. But the person had clearly come to speak with him, and they intended to do just that.

" _Psst_ " the voice whispered. Kai rolled his eyes. He knew exactly who it was. " _Pssst,_ " it hissed again. " _Blue. Wake up. Psssst!_ " Kai sighed and turned over to face the kid.

"What do you want?" He asked bluntly. Lloyd looked surprised.

"To talk to you, silly. I figured you were too sick before, and any other time I came in, you were asleep."

"I was asleep this time!" Lloyd giggled and waved his hand dismissively.

" _Psssh_. No you weren't. I grew up at darkly's -" he puffed out his chest "- _I_ know how to fake-sleep, and _you_ weren't doing it right."

Kai rolled his eyes again and started to turn back to face the wall, when Lloyd said "Are you mad at me?" His voice sounded a lot smaller now, making Kai feel 10x more guilty.

"You told the ninja where I was." Kai grunted, deciding to be blunt and not dance around the answer.

"What? No I didn't! I swear!"

"Well buddy, I didn't tell anyone else."

"No, no, no. It was Nya! She put a tracking device on you!"

Kai pulled himself upright and stared down at the kid with a mix of confusion and horror. He exhaled deeply and ran his hands through his long hair.

"Outside Ouroborus." He muttered to himself. "When she hugged me."

"Oh." Lloyd sounded small again, realisation dawning on the young boy.

"Why didn't you try to stop them?" Kai inquired, his accusatory tone gone and replaced with a calm one.

"We were worried. You didn't show up all day." Kai nodded. After a few deep breaths, he looked down at Lloyd again.

"Sorry, kid. Looks like I've been glaring in the wrong direction." Lloyd perked up.

"Does that mean we can talk again?" Kai chuckled. It was the first in a long time. It felt good. He shuffled over on the bed and patted the space beside him, smiling softly at Lloyd. Lloyd's tiny face lit up, and he grinned from ear to ear as he clambered clumsily onto the bed. They talked hours into the night.

…

The sight Nya was met with was possibly one of the sweetest she'd ever seen. Kai slept with his face to the door, clutching tightly onto the kid. Lloyd was curled up into a tiny ball of fabric, his face buried in Kai's chest as he snored loudly. It was the most peaceful and _quiet_ Nya had ever seen either of the boys. She quickly whipped out her phone and took a few pictures - just to commemorate the moment, you see. Admiring the photos, she crept out of the room and closed the door behind her. Seeing her brother as peaceful as that, well, it made that horrible decision worth it. Just like she'd never admit to have taken those photos, she'd never admit to the lengths she'd gone to keep her brother safe.


	11. Chapter 11: Poisonous Love

**ELEMENTAL SWITCH AU CHAPTER 11: Poisonous Love**

Being bedridden _sucked_. It especially sucked when it was all because of something as insignificant and common as food poisoning. Though, he had to admit, days had never flown by quite as fast as when Kai was chatting to Lloyd. Something about the kid could light up the room when he was excited or make the entire world sink when he was upset. While the latter was becoming less frequent as Kai stayed on board, he secretly didn't mind when Lloyd burst into the infirmary and snuggled into him, terrified of the howling wind that was violently rocking the Bounty. It felt weird, but yet familiar. Kai finally managed to trace it back to the memories of young Nya cuddling him as a fierce storm roared outside. Kai had never been afraid of rain, like most young children were. He'd never known why, nor had he questioned it. But now, he simply smiled as he connected the dots.

Tonight was one of those nights. Lloyd tightened his grip around Kai's waist as a particularly loud gust of wind swept through the flying boat. Kai placed his arm around the small boy, and kept his eyes trained on the small window to his right, overlooking the sea below. He followed the raindrops pelting against the sheer surface, occasionally making one or two backtrack up the window before releasing it and letting it slide back down again. A hum of interest caught his attention, and he looked down to see Lloyd, gazing at the glass in wonder. Kai let out a small laugh, and decided to up his game. Reaching his hand out towards the window, he furrowed his eyebrows and concentrated on the droplets. Slowly, the water flowed into one, and began to take the shape of a hand, which waved merrily at Lloyd. Kai knew he had done his job when the kid let out a giggle of delight and waved back. Relaxing, Kai dropped his hand and the water-hand outside the window quickly lost it's shape and plummeted out of sight.

Finally, the night Kai had been waiting for presented itself to him. He had been up and back in action for a while now, and had helped the ninja in his Samurai X suit (which had taken a lot of convincing and team trust exercises) to find three of the four silver fang-blades. He rarely talked to the ninja at first, but he had had some decent conversations with Zane, who was good at quietly listening to his complaining and simply nodding in agreement, or smiling slightly when Kai poked fun at Sensei. In short, he'd gained their trust. So when the night came when it was Kai's turn to guard the ship and fang-blades, no-one thought anything of it. Nya and Zane were out at a local library, looking into the fang-blade's history, to see if there was anywhere hot enough to destroy them. The rest of the ninja were following a lead. Sensei was interrogating a captured serpentine, and Lloyd was at a comic book store reopening (he had insisted that it was important).

That left Kai all by himself on the destiny's bounty. He'd gradually gathered food from the kitchen cupboards, in an attempt to make sure that no-one noticed. He'd packed his backpack with clothes, a blanket a torch and some spare batteries. Gazing longingly at his pillow and the heaven-soft mattress, Kai sighed deeply, knowing h could only packed the necessities. It was weird how guilty he felt at leaving this place. It was not his home. He did not feel like he belonged here. Tossing his backpack onto his back, he adjusted his Samurai helmet and made for the door that lead to the deck. It was summer (the season Kai had intentionally waited for), yet the sky seemed dim and dreary. It was the early evening, so he figured he had a few more hours of sunlight. After double checking the armour for any signs of a tracker, he took a deep breath and stood on the ship's railing, ready to jump off.

"Find a lead?" A cool, calm voice made Kai jump a foot in the air. He steadied himself on the railing before quickly whipping his head around to see none other than Zane, looking innocently up at him from where he stood on the deck. He stumbled for words.

"Well, uh, no, I just um… I uh…"

Zane interrupted. "Were you going out for groceries? I have noticed that we've really been burning through all the fruit and pancakes recently." He said with a good natured chuckle. Suddenly those exact food items felt a lot heavier in

Kai's bag. He knew that Zane was not stupid. Zane knew fine rightly what was going on. He was just trying to gently coax Kai back inside. Still, Kai had nothing to say.

"Umm…"

Zane offered his hand up to Kai. "Well, if you truly can't decide what you're doing, maybe you should come inside and we'll talk about it."

Kai did _not_ want to talk about it. But there was no denying. He was busted. He dropped his tense shoulders, begrudgingly took Zane's hand and stepped down.

He allowed Zane to direct him to the living room, where he removed his helmet, plopped down on the couch, and stared intently at his boots. Zane followed his lead and quietly lowered himself down beside him.

"Listen," Zane started, "I am truly sorry that you do not view the Bounty as your home like the rest of us do. But I don't think running would do you any good. You won't get enough to eat or drink. You'll be living in unhealthy and unsanitary locations. You'll be susceptible to attack from the serpentine." Zane shook his head. "It's simply too risky." Throughout the speech, Kai did his best to avoid eye contact, though he could tell Zane was trying to catch his eye. Zane sighed defeatedly. "Perhaps… perhaps if you really don't want to stay, we can alert the police of our situation and see if they can find a good home for you."

Panic raked through Kai's systems. He gazed, shocked, into Zane's luminescent blue eyes.

"You're just going to hand me to the _government_?" His breathing picked up, his balance became unsteady. He could vaguely hear Zane talking in an annoyingly calm voice, but he couldn't quite understand what he was saying. Then Zane gripped Kai's shoulders and shook him slightly, gently bringing Kai back to reality.

"Kai? Did you hear me?" Kai didn't respond. "I said that it's completely up to you," Zane repeated, "but you can't live on your own. You are simply too unstable. Do you understand?"

Kai nodded, though he really wasn't entirely sure. Part of him knew he was somewhat unstable and unfit to live on his own. The other part wanted to lash out at whoever accused him of such things. He was aware that Zane probably wanted an answer, but instead Kai stood up and murmured "I need to go and get changed." Zane nodded and stood up too.

"Yes, I need to get back to the library before Nya gets suspicious." After seeing Kai's troubled glance, Zane quickly added "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. I've got a feeling that wouldn't help the whole 'trust' idea, now would it?" With a small smile, the two boys parted ways.

Kai spent the rest of the day in his room, dressed in his hoodie and tattered jeans, thinking over what Zane had said. He definitely was _not_ going to the police, so in a way he'd already made up his mind to stay. The hours spent pacing up and down the length of his small bedroom were preparing himself for that reality. He'd gained a spare room to call his bedroom after he learned that the monastery had been burnt down. It was a corridor or two away from the ninja's joint bedroom, which he was pleased with, but only a room away from Wu's meditation room, where Wu spent most of his time. This, Kai was not so pleased with. Wu was patronising. He either treated Kai like a young child who needed constant reassurance, or like a rabid dog who you had to tread lightly around or else you'd get your ankles bitten off. Kai couldn't decide which was worse. He was always 'checking in' and or talking to him or resting his hand on Kai's arm or shoulder. It made Kai feel too warm, which (as Kai had convinced himself) meant he was angry. Though, he never made any attempts to stop him or push him away when Wu did these things. Of course, he would always tell him to 'get out' or 'get lost' when Wu entered, but the words always seemed somewhat half-hearted. He bet Wu knew that. Stupid Wu.

The clock had just struck 3pm when Kai heard Zane and Nya return from the library. Everyone except Lloyd and Wu were home already, which was obvious from the sounds of video games and shouting blasting from the living room. Kai had expected the new arrivals to join the others in a what sounded like a violent tournament, so he was caught off-guard when Nya burst though his door and stormed into the room. Her teeth were gritted, and her fists were clenched. She looked more than ready for a brawl. Kai stayed silent and waited for her to explain her anger. He had long since found out the hard way that if you tried to guess, your head may be bitten off.

"You tried to run away? _Again?_ " She yelled, marching closer to him.

Kai blinked. "Zane…told you?"

"I don't need Zane to tell me! I knew from the moment he took off from the library what was going on! What were you _thinking_? Do you _want_ to get yourself killed? You need to stay here, whether you want to or not! Why do you think I gave you food poisoning? I knew that you'd run the moment you got the chance. I thought that if you were _forced_ to stay, you'd see reason and trust us! But not even sickness can get through your thick, self-centred skull!" Nya sniffed and angrily wiped away a tear. "Can you not see that we miss you?"

But Kai was no longer listening. He took a deep breath, and glared intensely into Nya's eyes. He spoke quietly and with dangerous calmness. " _What_ did you do to me?"

Nya rolled her eyes. "Is that _all_ you heard? Really?"

But Kai wouldn't have it. He stepped closer, squaring his shoulders and silently challenging her. He raised his voice only slightly. "What. Did you do. To. me."

His sibling seemed to accept his silent challenge, getting right up in his face. "I cooked your food. All I had to do was take your meat out of the oven a few minutes earlier than the others. I knew it wouldn't actually harm you. Stop being such a baby," she spat. Kai snarled down at her and was about to deliver a _devastating_ insult when the door creaked. Kai turned his attention to the crack in the open doorway and noticed a shape standing on the other side.

In the split second Kai had looked away, Nya seized the opportunity to punch him _hard_ in the stomach, letting out her built up anger in one, fire powered blow. Kai stumbled back a few steps, clutching his smouldering midsection. Then he charged forward with blinding speed, using his full body weight to tackle Nya to the floor where they rolled, scratching, kicking and biting. They were both vaguely aware of the figures trying to pry them apart, but they didn't dare stop. They were both absolutely set on winning this fight. Fire flared. Water gushed. By the time Jay, Cole and Zane had forced them about half a metre apart, Kai was smoking. His hoodie was blackened, his were shoes melted. Nya was drenched. Her gi had been ripped where she had been hit with the force of a power-hose. One of her shoulder pads had been blasted to the other side of the room, where it stuck out of the wall, its gold colour gleaming as if it had been put through an automatic car wash.

Still, each sibling struggled to free themselves from their captors so they could throw the other to the ground. All of a sudden a deafening yell erupted and ricocheted off the walls. " **ENOUGH.** " Everything stopped. Heads whipped around to the door where an enraged sensei stood. His knuckles were white on his bo staff, his dangerous eyes flashing and flicking to each white faced student. He did not seem surprised that Nya was soaked or that the room was an inch deep in water. Instead he looked Kai up and down, his face softening ever so slightly from steel to rock. "I should have expected this," he muttered. "Nya, go to your room and put on a clean gi. I will deal with your punishment later. Kai," he paused, pondering his next words. "Come with me."


End file.
